FAMILIES & HOUSEHOLDS - CHILDHOOD

Question 1

the nature of childhood

Answer 1

->”childhood”, as we know it today, is a fairly recent idea; before industrialisation in Britain, evidence suggests that children were essentially treated as “little adults”
->many sociologists have argues that childhood is a social construction in that childhood, if it exists in a society, varies greatly from place to place and time to time

CHILDHOOD IN POORER COUNTRIES:
->the nature of childhood varies enormously around the world
->WORK:
–>children in poorer countries start working at a younger age
–>they have very few rights as they are set to do dangerous jobs for a lower wage
–>work is prioritised over education as income is more important
->CIVIL WAR:
–>children mature faster as they have different responsibilities within the war and family
–>children have trauma from seeing fatal injuries
–>80% of educational institutions in Mozambique were damaged in civil war
->EDUCATION:
–>children get pulled out of education at a young age or don’t even go at all
–>loss of education leads to not a very high paid job, meaning the poverty cycle continues

Question 2

nature of childhood - changing status of children

Answer 2

->Aries (1960) “Centuries of Childhood”
–>Aries sees children as an “invention” of the 20th century
–>this is because in medieval Europe, children were viewed as “small adults” and treated as such
->Ladurie (1990) suggests that households were based on “sociability” - children would interact with many more adults than today
->Aries argues that a change happened as a result of industrialisation
–>from the 1800s onwards, Factory Acts and Education Acts began to separate, eg. the 1870 Forster Education Act, and the 1944 Butler Education Act

Question 3

nature of childhood - childcentredness

Answer 3

->the 20th C. saw the emergence of a more “child-centred society” where family life revolves around the child, with their development and well-being seen as a priority rather than the adults.

ROMANTIC LOVE:
->Edward Shorter (1976) puts primary emphasis upon the development of ideas
–>he argues that, from the 18th C., the idea of romantic love began to develop. People began to marry for love - rather than, for example, to have children or for financial reasons or security. As a result, children became seen as more important - as the products of a special relationship between a loving husband and wife

TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE:
->Postman (1982) argues that technological change explains the rise of modern ideas about childhood. In particular, he argues that the development of the printing press in the late 15th C. meant that adults increasingly required children to learn to read as children needed education to become like adults

POLICIES:
->state policies have increasingly ensured that children are unable to take on many aspects of adult roles and have enshrined the idea of childhood as a special time of innocence in which children should be protected from the adult world
->in Industrial Revolution Britain, child labour was widespread
->however, in 1819, children under 9 were banned from working in textile mills and older children were limited to working a 12 hour day
->the 1889 Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act restricted the employment of children
->the introduction and expansion of compulsory education has been particularly important in restricting the opportunity for children to work (the school leaving age increased to 16 in 1972, 17 in 2013, and 18 in 2015)

ECONOMICS OF CHILDREN:
->the extension of the length of time that children were dependent on their parents (20+), because they were prohibited from working, gradually transformed children from potential economic assets, to economic liabilities
->we live in a consumption oriented society - it is normal for kids nowadays to have the new ipad or xbox (all very expensive) and kids (8-12) have “pester power” over their parents to get their way

FAMILY SIZE:
->a variety of factors have contributed to a decrease in family size
->along with lower infant mortality rates, parents have concentrated their efforts into the well-being of a smaller number of children, seeing them as needing nurturing and protection

EXPERT KNOWLEDGE:
->according to Donzelot (1977), the development of professionals who advocate theories of child development has influenced nature of childhoos as “expert knowledge” and parenting advice is now disseminated through popular media and parenting websites (eg. mumsnet)

Question 4

theories of childhood (new right pov on dark side)

Answer 4

THE NEW RIGHT:
-Functionalists and the New Right adopt a rather idyllic and overly-positive view of the nuclear family performing positive functions
-however, since the 1960s, a number of academics from more radical areas have challenged the perspective
-they conclude that the family can be damaging for individuals in a number of ways
->New Right theorists, like Murray and Marsland, were particularly critical of the “never marries lone parent family”
–>they beleve that unmarried men and women are reckless
–>kids of unmarried parents are more likely to: engage in criminal activity, have low educational attainment, do drugs and alcohol, have a teen pregnancy, and experience unemployment
->the New Right argue that non-traditional family types are dysfunctional to both society and individuals
–>Norman Dennis sees children as “damaged” by lone parent families that are headed by women
–>boys are particularly “damaged” by the lack of a male role model
->the New Right emphasise the damaging effects of divorce and separation and point to statistical data to show the disadvantages
–>children (5-15) from lone parent families are 8% more likely to have mental health issues
–>they are 3x more likely to have problems at school
–>they are twice as likely to run away from home